Formation of the roll of tobacco in cigarette-making machines



Nov. 24, 1953 RAU 2,660,178

F ATION OF THE R L 0F TOBACCO CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINES Fi led Feb. 14, 1949 a Shets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS INVENTOR 111mm mum,

Nov. 24, 1953 2,660,178

M. RAULT FORMATION OF THE ROLL OF TOB ACCO IN CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINES Filed Feb. 14, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. l4

FIG. I6 28 INVENTOR- MICHEL RAULT OYW 28 ATTORNEYS Nov. 24, 1953 M. RAULT 2,660,178

' FORMATION OF THE ROLL OF TOBACCO IN CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINES Filed Feb. 14, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 T INVENTOR MICHEL RAULT,

ATTORNEYS ?atented Nov. 24, ices 2,660,1128

e The present. invention is concerned .with ap moved from the=,.top;of;;the stream, and divides paratus used for tobacco distribution in cone and rgemoves the excess portion from the top of tinuous roll cigarette making machines, which the stream above;a predetermined level, machines usuallycomprisespecial carding drums. A furtherobject oi the inv n on, is dir cte adapted tosupply tobacco from theotobacco in 5 togthegreturiyo the excess tobacco in the series the. bulk fed from asuitable container or supply 0f qhetations indicated in the foregoing para:

means... y i

Thetobacco for cigarettes is supplied from the distributor,

distributor in the form of a. shower of loose :;;Qther and furthlr objectsioflthe present;

staples which is laid on a traveling belt. as ,unition will appear from the more; detailed descripf formlyas possible and the belt conveyor is adapttion set forth .below,;itbeing understood that ed to bring, it to a tobacco-roll forming; means SllQhmcre detaileddescription is given by way of graph, the excess tobacco being returned to said and thence, to a cigarette forming means. illustrationgandiexplane n onl e notbvway In spite of the arrangements devised heretofore of, limitation; M1 ye U t pr v th uniform pickup or takin of -.Th .p nc pl ro rtheuinventi n reside int at the tobacco by the carding drumsor to subseonce the distributor is set to deliver an excess-cf quently compensate for the lack of. uniformity b9ba CQ0 QYQr;WhiJZiS necessary to obtain cigarof such a taking, the tobacco sliver present-on ettes of, the desired mean weigh I the belt conveyor is ifar from being uniform. The arerernoged froin the sliverat ays' tably chosen tobacco stream exhibits pits, and knolls, or, nodes place, the-tobacco streamlgeipg held d 1 1 and antinodes, which upon being taken;-by:the by 'ravity andpnlya uniformysliver that will tobaccoroll former mechanism and the. cigarette ;Q QQ rect garettes i llowed toproceed to? forming mechanism 18%(153170 the production of Wards thecigarette ma n e. The surplus tocigarettes which are not uniform and each quite bacco thus removed is brought back injto the disdifierent ,in weight, compactness and amount, tribu-tor in orderthat it shall-not getiost. which results in loss of quality in the cigarette An embodiment willnovv; be de gribed, and in wastefulness in manufacture. M I specifically vvhichis based upon the reasonably This lackof uniformity vis thus ascribable Ito exactassumption thatgthe density ofthe tobacco the unsatisfactory loading of the carding device as deposited on the belt conveyor; remains and also to a greater crle'sser density of theto- Sl %ll 2 ::i= -i@: t hat; the weight pf tobacco which is bacco staple shower falling upon the conveyor. thus deposited in loose although more 0;- A i fl herearefurther disadvantages resulting in 'the interloclred staples is constant fora given v 1- considerable variations in the weights of the ume.

cigarettes which are ascribable to an unsteady ;-;In-this--assumption, output of the distributor, the origin of which is curinga- -tobacqo fil fi tqf n t ntyyolumef On to be found in the variations in physical c'ondithe whole, the following procedure be tion of the tobacco and' in the heterogeneous adopted: a-x

character of the mass. s g tfi distributor to deliver a tobacco The final result is that in conventional designs sliver that contains more tobacco than is necesof cigarette making machines the tobacco sliver 40 sary to obtain cigarettes of the desired mean conveyed on the belt and fed as such to the weight and consequently the sectional area {of processing members is converted into a comwhichwill be larger than the one corresponding pacted roll and then into a cigarette with the to the desired mean weight; determining such a above indicated defects which must be accepted surplus t t even in those regions ofnthe despite these disadvantages, tobacco sliver in which pits are present due to e Th present invention overcomes these disadlack, of uniformity in thesupply the section of vantages of the prior art devices. the sliver shall be at least equal to the. section An object or" the invention is directed to a corresponding tothe desired mean-weight method of forming a tobacco filler of uniform 2 1; a t mt i the tf 1 en t size and consistence for the manufacture of bacco'sliver, removing the tobacco present in excigarettes in a continuous-filler cigare cessover the section just mentioned v chine which method feeds tobacco from a dis- 3. Allowing only the tobacco sliver port on i tributoi in a continuous stream, on a flexible end h t fills a d seamen to proceed. and form.

1688 S I P the tobacco being fedhaving: an the-cigarettaand returning the remainder-to amount in cross section which is 1n excess of th b f tebaccoi the distributor I 1 L. 4 a that amount in ClOSS section 04. a hnished cigar F01 the follmatlong ofjxthe gclgarettey 1a flow,

ctt'e, and selectively narrows the stream'in a tobacco of constant. density is thus Obtained transverse direction by the successive converging which is free f Knolls well asfmm pits I of the stream from a lateral pressing against the provided a sufficient excess of tobacco Y 1 1 endless support, the particles of tobacco being eredby thedistributor. s ggg held down by gravity and other particles only tions of thesliver are removed with the removal throughout the whole length or the stream up to ofthe excess tobacco; I I a h n the point where the excess portion is to be are- 325 h s -been revealed.by practice"that in ithj manner the lack of uniformity in the weights of the cigarettes is lessened considerably, and so is the diversity in compactness and filling.

In fact, residual differences may subsist, which are ascribable notably to the fact that the weight of tobacco per unit of length of the sliver thus topped varies, in other words the density of r the tobacco is not constant all along the roll. Such residual differences are not considerable.

Naturally, the topping mechanism should be arranged in the machine as far downstream as possible, that is, at the latest moment before the cigarette forming operations.

An embodiment of the mechanisms whereby the method thus defined is illustrated by way of example in the drawing appended hereto.

Figure l is a diagrammatic vertical cross-section of the apparatus in which the method of the invention is carried out.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of detail of the apparatus of Figure 1 taken on the section line II-II of the tobacco sliver.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views of the detail of Figure 2 taken respectively on lines IIIIII, IVIV and VV in Figure 2.

Figures 6 and '7 are longitudinal sections showing inequalities in the tobacco sliver on the conveyor.

Figures 8 and 9 are a vertical section and a plan view, respectively, of a knife means to divide and separate the top portion of the sliver.

Figure 10 is a partial vertical sectional view, and Figure 11 a plan View, respectively, of still another device to separate the excess of tobacco from the tobacco stream.

Figures 12 and 13 are a vertical section and plan view, respectively, of a topping device or shears utilized for dividing and separating the excess of tobacco from the tobacco stream.

Figure 14 is a plan view of a mechanism for the removal of the excess tobacco.

Figure 15 is a sectional View of a modification of the adjusting mechanism.

Figure 16 is a plan view of a further embodiment of the invention.

Figures 17, 18 and 19 are cross sectional views taken respectively on lines XVIIIXVIII and XIX-XIX in Fig. 2.

The distributor illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises as its main elements:

veyor 0 shown in horizontal sectional view.

The endless belt conveyor 6 is visible in its entire extent in Fig. 2. The tobacco sliver i which forms on the belt due to the falling of the tobacco staples from the delivery hopper 5 is limited by the cross walls 8 and 9. The formation of the tobacco sliver begins directly below the wall 8 4 is U-shaped in cross-section, and it is in the bottom of the U-shaped channel (see Figs. i and 5) that the sides of the U are progressively formed. Due to the pressure exerted by the disc IE! it becomes compacted on the paper 36 to a section approximating that of the cigarette.

The progress of such a formation of the roll of tobacco once the latter has left the distributor and moved past the wall 9 is shown rather diagrammatically in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. Indicated at H is the sectional shape of the tobacco roll as laid on the belt 6 (Fig. 3). At i2 (Fig. 4) the said section has narrowed and the tobacco occupies a thicker section than in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 5 the section I3 becomes progressively smaller and the tobacco is compressed.

On account of the pits and knolls presented by the tobacco sliver due to the aforementioned lack of uniformity of the staple, the sliver as it enters the section III (Fig. 2) has a sectional aspect which is diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 6, which is well-known to those skilled in the art. In section IV the said uneven surface portions are amplified and result in differences in thickness which are indicated roughly in Fig. 7. Indeed, they will no longer be visible once the disc Ii) has accomplished its compacting action, yet, they will none the less be still present thereafter in the constant-section roll in the form of hard overpressed places alternating with soft places at which the cigarette will deform and be mashed easily if pressed between ones fingers.

In accordance with the invention, the tobacco in the section IV is topped or divided to a constant height h. (Fig. 7) which is less than the thickness of the tobacco sliver at those places where the pits are the deepest and the tobacco which lies above the level it is thrown aside to be returned to the hopper in piping 29 schematically shown in Figure 1. A tobacco sliver of uniform thickness is thereby obtained.

More than the usual amount necessary of tobaccois delivered by the distributor since only that portion which remains below the level it constitutes the tobacco portion of the cigarettes.

Various arrangements may be contemplated for the purpose of shearing off the excess tobacco above the level it. One amongst them consists in the provision in the section IV (in which the height h, is determined by the height of the fixed sides that contain the tobacco sliver) of a pair of cutter discs it and 55 (Fig. 8) that slightly overlap one another in contact with each other and that are rotated in opposite directions at a speed sufiicient to shear Off the excess tobacco without dragging the flow that moves on below the level It. Figure 8 is a sectional view and Fig. 9 a plan View of such an arrangement. For this same purpose shears 5 is shown in Figure 2.

A blowing nozzle 24 or any other suitable device is provided whereby the excess tobacco which accumulates on top of the cutter discs Hi, I5, after the shearing process, is rejected aside to be taken again by suitable means (not shown) and returned to the bulk of fresh tobacco in the distributor.

In lieu of the blowing nozzle it is possible e. g. to use a pair of lateral belts 25 (see Fig. 14) driving dividing rollers Ma and [5a, said belts running in continuous motion and adapted to convey the top layer of the tobacco sliver towards a guide 26 by which it is discharged outwards; the said belts and guide positively convey the excess tobacco to tobacco conveyors by which it will be returned to the distributor.

The cutter discs 14 and I are driven through mechanical transmission means (not shown) from the main driving shaft of the machine.

Means are provided to control the average weight of the cigarette obtained in the above described process. These means are adapted to obtain said average weight by adjusting the size of the tobacco section [3 in that region of support 3| wherein the tobacco flows beneath the cutters l4 and I5. For example, the block I7 that supports the bottom of the tobacco roll in that region (see Fig. 8), may be made adjustable vertically by means of set screw it.

For the same purpose it is also possible to narrow the bottom portion of the roll by means of a pair of side plates 27, the spacing of which can be adjusted with the aid of means indicated at 28 in Fig. 15.

Various modifications of the topping means may be contemplated within the scope of the invention. For instance the sliver may be compelled to progressively assume an almost cylin-.

drical shape (delimiting a cross-sectional circular area equal to the standard sectional area of the loose tobacco roll), the surplus that stands above the topping plane thus being in some manner severed from the residual roll in the form of a tuft that projects above the strike-off plane. In that case the compacting of the tobacco will make it easier to strike-off the excess with the aid either of cutter discs or shears as shown in Figures 2, 8, 9 and as described hereinbefore or of a spiked cylinder 22 (see Figs. 11, 12) arranged diagonally above the strike-01f plane and rotated at high speed. The excess tobacco is torn off by the spikes and whirled aside to be returned to the distributor.

A strike-off device 23 for the excess tobacco may be provided, instead of the spiked cylinder 22 of Figs. 11 and 12, the strike-off device provided with a toothed edge which is placed transversely across the advancing tobacco stream at the proper level for the removal of the excess of tobacco, so as to operate in the fashion of a mowing machine and is illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 the channel and belt conveyor in the section which is located below the distributor (from wall 8 to wall 9 in Fig, 2) are arranged as shown in Fig. 3. In the section next to said wall 9 the channel and belt assume a U-shape as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 8. To overcome the defect of this arrangement wherein the channel and belt are converted too abruptly from the cross-section in Fig. 3 to the one shown in Fig. 4, the modification is made as shown in Figs. 17 and 19, to progressively transform the section of the said channel within that section which is comprised between the walls 8 and 9 so as to delimit the distributor longitudinally as illustrated in Figs. 1'7 to 19. At the entrance of the distributor the belt 6 is flat (Fig. 1'7), after which at the exit it assumes an inverted hog back-like section (Fig. 18)

Having thus disclosed the invention what is claimed is:

1. The method of forming a tobacco filler of uniform size and consistence for the manufacture of cigarettes in a continuous-filler cigarette machine comprising the steps of feeding tobacco from a distributor in a continuous stream, the tobacco being fed having an amount in cross section which is in excess of that amount in cross section of a finished cigarette, selectively narrowing the stream in a. transverse direction, said tobacco stream having its particles of tobacco held down by gravity and other particles of tobacco only throughout the whole length of the stream up to the point where the excess portion. is to be removed from the top of the stream and dividing and removing the excess portion from the top of the stream above a predetermined level.

2. The method of forming a tobacco filler of uniform size and consistence for the manufacture of cigarettes in a continuous-filler cigarette machine comprising the steps of feeding tobacco from a distributor in a continuous stream, the tobacco being fed having an amount in cross section which is in excess of that amount in cross section of a finished cigarette, selectively narrowing th stream in a transverse direction, said tobacco stream having its particles of tobacco held down by gravity and other particles of tobacco only throughout the whole length of the stream up to the point where the excess portion is to be removed from the top of the stream and dividing and removing the excess portion from the top of the stream above a predetermined level, said excess tobacco being removed at a point closely adjacent the place where the selectively narrowing operation has been completed.

3. The method of forming a tobacco filler of uniform size and consistence for the manufacture of cigarettes in a continuous-filler cigarette machine comprising the steps of feeding tobacco from a distributor in a continuous stream on a flexible endless support, the tobacco being fed having an amount in cross section which is in excess of that amount in cross section of a finished cigarette, successively converging the stream by laterally pressing against the endless support, said tobacco stream having its particles of tobacco held down by gravity and other particles of tobacco only throughout the whole length of the stream up to the point where the excess portion is to b removed from the top of the stream and dividing and removing the excess portion from the top of the stream above a predetermined level.

4. The method of forming a tobacco filler of uniform size and consistence for the manufacutre of cigarettes in a continuous-filler cigarette machine comprising the steps of feeding tobacco from a distributor in a continuous stream on a flexibl endless support, the tobacco being fed having an amount in cross section of a finished cigarette, successively converging the stream to narrow it in a transverse direction by laterally pressing against the endless support, said tobacco stream having its particles of tobacco held down by gravity and other particles of tobacco only throughout the whole length of the stream up to the point wher the excess portion is to be removed from the top of the stream, dividing and removing the excess portion from the top of the stream above a predetermined level in a lateral direction from the path of the stream and returning the excess tobacco to said distributor.

MICHEL RAULT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 548,686 Williams Oct. 29, 1895 554,635 De la Mar Feb. 11, 1896 671,417 Du Brul Apr. 2, 844,783 Du Brul Feb. 19, 1907 1,608,138 Ruau Nov, 23, 1926 2,423,554 Davidson July 8, 19 7 

